The Justice League comics from DC are no strangers to venturing out into other realms in which the mainstream reality is flipped upside down. The Crime Syndicate from Earth 3 is one such noteworthy example, in which Batman is an evil villain named Owlman, Superman is the evil Ultraman, Wonder Woman is the wicked Superwoman, and so on.
There’s also the Injustice League, a group of supervillains formed to oppose the Justice League of America’s more upright members. The two titles are merged into the Injustice Syndicate in the 2009 animated series “Batman: The Brave and the Bold” for a plot in which the League’s evil equivalents attempt to destroy Batman’s Earth.
This episode called ‘Deep Cover For Batman’ was written by Joseph Kuhr and directed by Michael Chang. Instead of Earth 3 like the comics, their world was introduced as Earth 23. We also got a look into the evil counterparts of some of the other heroes such as the Green Arrow, Atom, and Red Tornado.
Batman found himself crossing paths with his own evil counterpart and his allies. He also worked alongside the heroic counterpart of his arch-nemesis. In this video, we will go over it all.
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Who Are The Injustice Syndicate?
The Injustice Syndicate, originally known as the Crime Syndicate in the comics, originally began as a group of superpowered beings committing small robberies. This soon escalated and they started to aim for world domination. In their defense, they were bored of robbing.
They went on to rule over their world (that is Earth 23) with an iron fist (kind of like the Justice Lords) and were feared by their citizens. After learning about new worlds, they wanted to rule those as well.
Similar to the Justice League, the Injustice Syndicate is a well-defined and organized group. They face opposition in the hands of the heroes of their world, who are the counterparts of the villains from the mainstream universe. The heroes are loosely knit and led by Red Hood, that is a better version of the Joker. On the opposite end, the parallel universe Batman, or rather, Owlman, plays a central role in managing the Injustice Syndicate.
On a certain occasion, the heroes went against the villains at Owlman’s Eyrie Of Evil (which also acts as the headquarters for the Injustice Syndicate), and unfortunately, the heroes lost. Thankfully, Red Hood, who led the rebellion, managed to escape.
The Injustice Syndicate, from what we have seen in Batman: The Brave And The Bold animated series consist of Owlman, Scarlet Scarab (a parallel universe Blue Beetle), Silver Cyclone (who is a parallel universe Red Tornado), Barracuda (the evil Aquaman), Blue Bowman (the evil Green Arrow), Rubber Man (the evil Plastic Man), Dyna-Mite (the evil Atom), and Blaze (the evil Fire).
They appear in the episode ‘Deep Cover For Batman’. The story begins with Red Hood activating his phase oscillator to gain access to a parallel universe (in this case, the mainstream DC Universe). He throws one of his weapons into this new world to verify the wormhole’s mechanisms. However, before he can go to this new world and ally with the heroes, he is intercepted by four shadowy figures.
These figures try to get the phase oscillator and even though Red Hood turns out to be an extremely capable fighter, there’s only so much he can do against four people. He loses his phase oscillator and is forced to escape, after which it is revealed that these four figures are Owlman, Silver Cyclone, Scarlet Scarab, and Blue Bowman.
In the mainstream universe, Batman fights off the Riddler and returns to his Batcave. He finds the weapon Red Hood had thrown from the wormhole and looks into it. It reflects the shadow of someone trying to ambush him when Owlman attacks Batman. The two go against each other in an evenly matched fight (they are the same after all, even though Owlman’s black and gold suit is a lot cooler). Ultimately, Batman dims the lights and uses flares to overpower his opponent as he takes advantage of owls having better night vision compared to bats. We also get to see a cool ocular technology that Owlman uses in his suit that amplifies his night vision.
Owlman is captured and Batman examines the phase oscillator. When he gets a hint of what is going on, he decides to go to this other universe disguised as Owlman. He opens the portal and soon finds himself in what seems to be the headquarters of the Injustice Syndicate.
The members ask him about his infiltration plan (assuming that he is Owlman) and Batman asks them to let go of that Earth. He lies about everyone there having superpowers and being dangerous, hoping that it would cause them to take Batman’s Earth off their radar. Howver, it only prompts the Injustice Syndicate to go with Plan B. In this plan, they intend to use Silver Cyclone’s bomb to destroy that world, which would cause the other worlds to either surrender to the Syndicate or be destroyed by them.
However, Silver Cyclone’s bomb is incomplete and the Syndicate needs the Promethium 90 to finish it. They raid a nuclear laboratory and open fire on the guards. Silver Cyclone informs them about not shattering the container that holds Promethium 90 and Batman heads to get it. However, he is attacked by Red Hood, who obviously believes that he is Owlman. Batman soon hits him away to a place that is slightly farther from the rest of the Syndicate and reveals his real identity. He even shows Red Hood the throwing weapon he had sent to Batman’s Earth. He then plants a communication device over Red Hood’s ear while the rest of the Syndicate retrieve the Promethium 90. Finally, Batman knocks Red Hood out in front of the others to not give rise to suspicions and Red Hood is ultimately captured.
At the headquarters, Batman asks Blue Bowman where he had imprisoned Red Hood. Blue Bowman finds the question to be strange and mentions how the hero has been detained at the same place as every other hero. He even expresses his feelings towards Batman’s strange behavior but is soon attacked by the Dark Knight, not because he was blowing his own cover but because Batman wanted to assert his dominance as Owlman. He menacingly asks Blue Bowman to never question him again, prompting him to leave the room. But the archer soon sent word to an ally, asking them to stick close to the Bat.
Meanwhile, Red Hood gets tortured with electricity by Silver Cyclone. His backstory is also spoken about and this is where we learn that Red Hood is the parallel Universe Joker. He had been thrown into a vat of acid by Owlman and the subsequent chemical reaction destroyed his face. But it failed to destory his spirit. He later led a heroes’ rebellion against the Injustice Syndicate and until then, had been the only one to escape. Batman overhears the conversation via the bat communication device and asks Red Hood to stall Silver Cyclone.
Red Hood begins to speak in twisted words and codes to lead Batman into the place where the other heroes were detained while managing to fool Silver Cyclone. Following his instructions, Batman takes to the vents when Silver Cyclone realizes what is going on. He analyzes the location of the intruder and sends his attack into the vents. Batman finds himself in a deadly situation while being dragged towards the ventilator fans. However, he is soon able to evade the lethal situation using weapons from his utility belt. He escapes the vents and lands in the room where the heroes are being detained.
Too bad the others were ready for this. Blue Bowman, Scarlet Scarab, and Dyna-Mite attack him. As the archer’s arrow takes down the Owlman cape, Batman soon appears in his own suit and introduces himself before he goes on to knock the others out. He then finds Red Hood, frees him, and also frees the other heroes while Silver Cyclone arrives with the other members of the Injustice Syndicate. The two groups then fight one another and during one instance, Batman almost hits the good guy version of Gorilla Grodd just out of habit.
Red Hood gets his hands on the phase oscillator and gives it to Batman and every other member of the Syndicate, minus Silver Cyclone are eventually imprisoned. This is where things get a bit iffy as Silver Cyclone activates the bomb to kill every organic being, including all the humans. He hates every human and wants to empty the planet so he does not really care for his fellow peers at the Syndicate. Soon, Red Hood electrocutes Silver Cyclone’s android head using one of his weapons while Batman uses the phase oscillator to send the bomb to a zombie planet.
The Backstories Of The Founding Members Of The Injustice Syndicate
Unlike the original Crime Syndicate from the comics which takes place on Earth 3 with Ultraman, Owlman, Superwoman, and the likes, the animated Injustice Syndicate boasts a different group of heroes. Only Owlman is the common one between the two.
Owlman (Parallel Of Batman)
Owlman is the son of Thomas Wayne just like his counterpart. However, he had an older brother called Bruce Wayne in his universe. His parents and brother were killed by Gotham City’s corrupt police, which turned him against the world of law and order.
Like Batman, who vowed revenge against crime, Owlman swore his vengeance against the law and then underwent rigorous training. He soon turned to criminal activities and later, world domination, as he worked as the one of the founding members of the Injustice Syndicate.
In the animated series, he found himself in the mainstream universe where Batman had imprisoned him. However, he soon freed himself and went out and about, committing crimes in the name of Batman. So when Batman returned to his own world, he found himself to be a wanted man. Owlman had even captured the heroes and united villains such as Gorilla Grodd, Clock King, Black Manta, Gentleman Ghost, the Brain, and Dr. Polaris. These villains are mostly the heroes from Earth 23 that had been captured by the Injustice Syndicate.
In the end, he was taken down by Batman who called upon several other Batmen from other universes and Owlman was subsequently sent back to his earth and placed under the intensive care of the Justice Underground (the heroes of Owlman’s world).
Owlman has every power that Batman does. Rich guy with amazing technology, brains, and martial arts. His wears a stellar black and gold suit and can even fly. Plus the eyes in his suit have a feature that can make his night vision better, to mimic an owl.
Scarlet Scarab (Parallel Of Blue Beetle)
Scarlet Scarab is the flipped evil version of Jaime Reyes’ Blue Beetle. He can talk to his suit as well, since the extraterrestrial technology of the Scarab fuses to the spine and gives the wielder control over living armor. He is quite a prominent character throughout the episode in which he appears and goes against a hero version of Dr. Polaris in the battle sequence. Ultimately, he is imprisoned.
He has the same powers as Blue Beetel but the way he uses them tend to be more aggressive and lethal. With the same powers, it can be said that Scarlet Scarab can pull off feats such as pyrokinesis and sound manipulation. He can also project energy, shoot laser beams, and fly.
Barracuda (Parallel Of Aquaman)
The evil counterpart of Aquaman, Barracuda, unlike Owlman or Scarlet Scarab, barely makes an appearance in the Deep Cover. He is present when Silver Cyclone arrives with his villains to fight Batman and Red Hood and goes against Black Manta. However, he is ultimately taken down and imprisoned.
He boasts all the abilities of Aquaman. He is a great fighter, and swimmer, and is immensely strong and durable. He can communicate with life in the sea, manipulate the storm, thunder, and rain, and has latent magic.
As an Atlantean and human hybrid, he can sustain himself on land for longer periods compared to other Atlanteans.
Silver Cyclone (Parallel Of Red Tornado)
Silver Cyclone appears as the evil version of Red Tornado. He is second in command at the Injustice Syndicate, with Owlman being the first in command. He is the mastermind who pulls the strings behind the operations taking place in the episode and is the one who is crafting the bomb that can take out planets.
This android is also responsible for torturing the Red Hood and is smart enough to figure out Batman’s strategy that caused Red Hood to sent him hidden messages via the bat communicating device.
After his team lost the final battle against the heroes of their world, Silver Cyclone introduced a new plan which did not concern any of his peers. The android harbored a deep hatred towards human life, unlike Red Tornado who wished to feel and experience emotions like humans. Silver Cyclone wanted to use his bomb to destroy organic life on Earth but was finally taken down by one of Red Hood’s throwing weapons.
His abilities are similar to that of the Red Tornado as well. He can channel forces of wind and create high speed gusts of wind that mirror cyclones. He can deflect other objects, fly, and create force fields. He also has a computerized brain that allows him to process information at an alarmingly fast rate.
Blue Bowman (Parallel Of Green Arrow)
The evil version of Green Arrow, Blue Bowman played a substantial role in the Injustice Syndicate. He was the first one to notice something was wrong with Owlman (who was actually Batman in disguise). His assumptions got stronger when Owlman asked him about the whereabouts of Red Hood, even though it should have been obvious that the hero was kept where the other heroes were. After Owlman lashed out at Blue Bowman, the archer alerted his peers and asked them to keep an eye on Owlman.
In the final battle, Batman breaks his bow and throws him into a cell alongside Barracuda.
Similar to his counterpart, Blue Bowman uses a variety of arrows and is a versatile fighter. And being a villain, his arrows are razor-sharp, lethal, and often have explosives on them.
Dyna-Mite (Parallel Of Atom)
The evil counterpart of Ryan Choi’s Atom, Dyna-Mite turns out to be Blue Bowman’s go-to guy when the latter begins to have suspicions about Owlman.
During his fight against Batman when he ambushed him with Scarlet Scarab and Blue Bowman, he tried to kill the imposter. He failed to do so but managed to fry the control panel. In the final battle, he is taken down by the heroic counterpart of Sinestro.
Similar to Atom, he can fly, phase, alter his size and mass.
Rubber Man (Parallel Of Plastic Man)
The evil counterpart of Plastic Man, Rubber Man, barely appears in the episode except for that one scene where he is bitten, rolled into ball, and used as a spring by General Grodd during the last fight.
He can stretch himself and his individual body parts to hurt others, kind of like Elasti Girl from The Incredibles. He is also immune to electricity.
Blaze (Parallel Of Fire)
The evil parallel of Fire, Blaze gets a brief appearance like Rubber Man. She goes against Gentleman Ghost in the last fight where she is shown to have orange and yellow fire powers. Even though she starts off strong with her fire blasts, she ultimately loses.
It was great of the animated series to bring the counterparts of some of the more overlooked characters into the forefront. Red Tornado’s counterpart, Silver Cyclone was particularly interesting to witness in this outstanding show.
And with that, today’s video comes to an end. What did you think of the Injustice Syndicate? Did you enjoy this video? If yes, then don’t forget to like and comment on this video. Till then, goodbye. And have a nice one!